Preview

PDF 364Kb

In this paper we show how Mead's theory of emergence can prove explanatory in how the theory-practice gap is co-created and sustained in front-end loading university programs. Taking teacher education as an exemplar, we argue that the trainee teacher encounters different and oft-times conflicting environmental, social and cultural conditions in the two"fields of interaction"of their training program, namely, the on-campus pre-service program and the Teaching School. The argument draws on interview and focus group data collected via a study of first-year graduate teachers of an Australian pre-service teacher education program. Our conclusions are two-fold. First, we conclude that role taking and self-regulated behaviour within the two environmental fields of interaction in front-end loading programs inhibit the trainee professional from exercising the power of agency to implement theory learned at university in practice in the workplace. Second, we conclude that Mead's theory of emergence proves effective in predicting the obduracy of the gap between theory and practice in front-end programs.

Item Type:	Refereed Conference Paper
Keywords:	Teacher Education and Professional Development of Teachers
Research Division:	Education
Research Group:	Curriculum and pedagogy
Research Field:	Curriculum and pedagogy theory and development
Objective Division:	Education and Training
Objective Group:	Teaching and curriculum
Objective Field:	Pedagogy
UTAS Author:	Allen, JM (Dr Jeanne Allen)
ID Code:	65752
Year Published:	2009
Deposited By:	Education
Deposited On:	2010-12-01
Last Modified:	2012-03-30
Downloads:	272 View Download Statistics